Shopping!: Brazen Betties revisited

I've blogged up Brazen Betties before - the wonderful downtown Torrington shop that features exclusively CT designers and artists with sexy, retro and pin-up inclinations. Well, proprietress Julia has been FB-ing about great seasonal sales and new merch and Cynthia and I were in the neighborhood and looking for a good time after the usual bad time at school, so we decided to drop by.

Everybody loves the "steampunk" ring by White Flag Designs I bought there on my first visit. Well, there's plenty more where that came from, so go get one for yourself.


WFD is the work of a gal out in Canton, who is also responsible for One Hand Washes the Other, delicious smelling natural soaps and creams and lip balms and things (Cynthia went for a lip balm). Cynthia also went for this ridiculous[ly awesome] hair ornament by Loveycraft (a crafty bitch from small town charm epicenter Collinsville).


Julia kept encouraging us to try gorgeous and fabulous things so we could see how amazing everything looks on, so of course I was hooked in as well. And loath as I am to spoil the live effect of a new outfit, it is my duty to share with you readers. I got this (price reduced!) chic De Melis... is it a coat? Whatever it is, I love it:


I had to have a Loveycraft too. She makes all these flamboyant headbands with big silky bows and colorful feathers. Check out my 'cock, you know you want it.

Bitch in Heat: Bikram week 2

It's been two weeks since the Bikram party. Last Tuesday I had a revelatory session where I felt better throughout and finished up feeling happy and energized. The Hot Yoga Guy says this is totally supposed to happen several sessions in. Great, I'm right on schedule! So for the past week I decided to push myself to go nearly every day. The literature out there says you can't really overdo it if you're doing it right, and although the sessions themselves are painfully hard work, there's no soreness or heavy feeling afterward, like I would expect if I were making myself run or bike daily extra hard. Presumably this is because yoga is no impact, the postures rely upon stretching, use the body only for traction and resistance, and the sequence is balanced, covering all areas of the body and matching flexion with extension.


Every session does not feel better than the last. The experience is definitely influenced by the time of the day, level of tiredness from other activities, eating habits. Whether my arms or legs were a little more tired going into it determines the level of torture feeling for me during the standing postures. And yet I am progressively better; already I can get into a better approximation of some of the postures which the limitations of my flexibility impede.

DH and I both look at Bikram as primarily an awesome form of exercise, which is why we're less interested in more meditative forms of yoga (DH says he already really good at "zoning out"). For him, committing to practice has also meant getting away from the rock n roll lifestyle and keeping more regular hours. My hours were already pretty regular-ish, but committing to practice definitely facilitates making other good lifestyle choices. If I know I'm going to be doing Bikram in the near future, the choice is pretty much made for me to do sensible things like drinking water, getting a decent night's rest, not getting drunk and dehydrated, not eating a big pile of awful crap food... Hence there are a variety of incidental benefits in addition to direct physical ones related to practice itself.


I should also mention that over the natural course of talking to people socially about my new hobby, I've run up against anti-Bikram yoga sentiment. One local yoga teacher encouraged me to try other yogas and offered a few specific criticisms. Namely that water loss is not good and that the emphasis on locking your knee is various postures is pretty, not healthy. I am not ultra concerned about the water loss through sweating; doing physical activities or working outdoors (or next to a pizza oven) in the summer will make you sweat all damn day, and that's been working out ok for humans throughout history - and to this day - who don't work at temperature controlled desk jobs. And while not locking the knee makes good sense for something like weight training (leg press, etc.), where the leg is being met with massive, inorganic physical resistance beyond the body's own pushing and stretching, the Bikram sequence as I've experienced it offers gentle induction into the poses, and individual common sense practice (e.g. don't push yourself too hard or too fast) should preclude injury during knee locking or any other position. Nevertheless, I may go give concerned anti-Bikram-guy's class a try some time, if for no other reason than to tell you lovely readers about a new experience, which is, after all, a my raison d'bloge, even if Bikram is ultimately the yoga for me, as I suspect it is.

Actually, there's more to yoga controversy than locking knees. Maybe our friends at Real Art Ways can get bring this documentary to Hartford.

Weekend in South Central....Connecticut

The Scenics split up to cover more ground this past weekend. Your humble reporter received an invitation to check out CT's own Yankee Brutals take on Queen City's Nickel City Knockouts (from western New York state). That's right, Roller Derby!

The bout took place at the CT Sports Center in Woodbridge. The CT sports center appears to be a mallable indoor warehouse space, I saw indoor soccer goals in the unused portion, the entire facility is huge, thousands of square feet. We should have a Scenic party there!

The most important part of the facility was, of course the refreshment stand, selling an excellent variety of beer. I was advised to bypass these and buy PBR cans as the proceeds would directly benefit the CT RollerGirls. Luckily, by the time I arrived the cans were long gone. PBR is fine, but I need to be a bit "warmed up" to tolerate it. I ordered a Long Trail, which went well with the cupcakes (also sold as part of the fundraiser).

What about this Roller Derby phenomenon that's been sweeping the country since the 1880's?


The action was fairly fast, occasionally only lasting for short bursts that would yield to longer evolving action segments. I was handed a guide to the complex referee calls and signals, and applying my full analytical powers I deduced that these hott roller babes were putting a serious beat down on each other.

Next time I'll get some real press credentials and bring my Rolleiflex film camera. Then maybe I'll capture some iconic shots like these:

This kind of looks like some old photos of my grandmother. Now I understand why my Grandfather kept saying she was a real knockout.

Of course for us literary types, the derby names are an attraction unto themselves. My fav for the night was Yankee Brutals co-captain "Babe Vigoda". Does anyone even remember who Abe Vigoda is?



There are all sorts of fun people at the roller derby. I got to hang with friend of the blog Laurie Lynne while she tended her Rockabilly Rita stand

Check out those striped skull stockings!

I've kept you in suspense long enough, CT's own Yankee Brutals brought home the bacon, winning 127-84.

No doubt the entire CT Scenic editorial staff will be partying at a roller derby soon, it's good clean family fun. By "family" I mean an organization like a mafia crime family, or the Manson family.

I bid adieu to the roller derby after an unsuccessful bid to lure a roller girl to my next port of call. Yes, you read right, the night was still young. I buzzed over to the Independisc Birthday Bash at Cafe 9 (You read about it on this very blog). When I arrived, The Big Fat Combo was on stage laying it down. I have to admit I was a bit distracted running into CT scene legends The Sawtelles, the only band to tour Connecticut on a motor scooter. The Mold Monkies closed the show.

Everyone attending received a gift wrapped CD. Mine featured a Christmas motif and contained an Independisc sampler featuring work from way back in 1999. Cool!

Szechuan Shack

Last night after the excellent Real Ride adventure I caught up with a band (and a restaurant) I have inexcusably neglected. I mean, WTF, I totally know them and totally live here. Well, after all that biking around Hartford, we were feeling energized and hungry, and I knew that Shack was playing at Szechuan Tokyo in West Hartford. Shack is led by trumpeter/composer Stephen Haynes, along with drummer Andy Chatfield, guitarist Kevin O'Neil, and bassist Adam Kubota. I don't really know anything about their kind of music, but I know they are very good at it, and my dinner companion was sufficiently wowed. I said something to Adam about not knowing anything about jazz and he said something about how 'we didn't really get into jazz tonight that was like freakout stuff.' Whatever! Apparently, it's complicated.

Szechuan Tokyo has been providing the West Hartford community with Asian fusion dining and live jazz for years, and I'm excited to list them as another spot where late night dining is possible (we ordered dinner at 10:30 p.m.). Though they seem to have a bit of a sadistic streak; our waiter recommended this hot pepper torture dish to my friend:

Real Fun Ride

Last night's Real Ride through Hartford was a ridiculously good time. Cyclists descended upon Real Art Ways, some with bikes already costumed. Luckily for those of us who spent Saturday afternoon napping instead of raiding The Lot for bicycle accessories, RAW graciously provided glow bracelets and blinkies, so everyone was illuminated. Attendance was impressive:

The ride consisted of a ten-mile tour of Hartford with stops highlighting the history of RAW in Hartford (former locations, sites of art installations). But mostly it was about creating a spectacle in Hartford with our garish two-wheeler parade. We're pretty convinced we made everybody's night who saw us (as evidenced by their waving and cheering). Bolstered by our safety in numbers we brazenly impeded traffic and toured areas of Hartford most of us wouldn't normally bike, least of all at night, including downtown, the Riverfront, the north end, and the Meadows area. Everyone got a special charge out of the pedestrian overpass over Route 91, which included spiraling up and down multi-level ramps on either side.


This being a RAW event, of course area celebrities were present, like guitarist Daniel Salazar and artist Anne Cubberly, whose bike "costumes" were the feature of the previous Real Ride. Anne had to work extra hard to navigate her piranha bike through the overpass but came through it in one piece.

I was impressed by this remarkably ugly sculpture by the Riverfront. I only had time to snap a quick picture of "Jack" the turkey, and didn't get all of his details, but I'm sure they must be fascinating. I thought he might be a candidate to revive the "phallic artistry" feature here on the blog, but maybe we've outgrown that... And actually, this look is a little more vulvar.


I think I can safely say that a good time was had by all, and that everyone who participated is hungry for more Real Rides. Regrettably, the word on the street is no more Real Rides til spring. Perhaps Jackie Scenic and I can arrange to tide interested parties over with a Scenic Bicycle Tour of all our significant West Hartford landmarks, like the street we both used to live on, the coffee shop formerly known as Peter B's and the Elmwood Green.

Happy Birthday, IndepenDisc

Saturday, Sept. 18: IndepenDisc XII Birthday Bash @ Cafe Nine, New Haven

We don't exactly know what IndepenDisc is, but we probably agree with them in principle, we know we like parties and - look! - our friends the Mold Monkies will be there. (We loved them at the New England Brewing party.) They're grown-up power pop, if you haven't been hanging on our every word. And by "grown-up" we mean old people. CT rockabilly band The Big Fat Combo will be playing too, and they sure sound like fun. Haha - check out their awesome cover art!

Rounding out the evening is singer-songwriter guy Frank Critelli.

Good bands: check. Tiny venue: check. Disgusting bathroom: check. Sounds like a pile of win! We hope there's really cake and that's not just FB event page teaser bullshit.

Spend some extra time with RAW this week

Thursday, Sept. 16: Creative Cocktail Hour
Saturday, Sept, 18: Real Ride @ Real Art Ways, Hartford

Third week is here again - so soon! So of course we'll be at Creative Cocktail Hour to flex our livers and show off our best fashiony things (and our hott yoga bodies). This month is going to feature some kind of instant art by Jane Shauck and her Polaroid camera. But does that Polaroid come with a Santa suit and humiliation like that one Mad Men episode? We sure hope so...


If that isn't enough (and it's never enough), RAW is hosting another Real Ride, this time a navel-gazing bike tour of RAW-related stuff around Hartford. Regrettably, we missed their last group ride, which looks like it was a ton of fun:

Hey, does this count for the "fitness" tag?

SnackQuest: Cosmos

This week my demand for exotic school week snacks brought me to one of my favorite local shops, Cosmos International grocery store in West Hartford, which had great India takeout as well as groceries, and best of all, it's cheap. Wait, maybe "tastes great" is best of all. I can't decide.

So this week between classes, I'll be munching on naan bread (99 cents for the pack!), chocolate coated marshmallow cookie-wiches from Turkey, chikki, and seasoned papadi (chickpea flower chips). This haul came out to about $8 - can't beat that on a good day at The Lot, and certainly not at pricey-but-delicious Tangiers down the street.


Good thing I'm always photographing my food in case I remember to blog it up later. On another recent trip to Cosmos, I had a samosa chat (samosa smothered by chickpea curry, tomatoes, onions, yogurt, chutneys, and little crispy thingies) and a large mango lassi (mango yogurt smoothie, possibly the world's most delicious beverage). This stuff is ready to go, a fraction of the price any normal restaurant bought meal, and tastes as good or better. This meal plus one mango, IIRC, was about $8 as well. When I was working at the Worst Job in the World at the elementary school down the street from Cosmos, I used to walk there all the time on lunch and get something small - like a samosa and a small lassi - for about $3 - less than the school kids were paying for their microwaved happy meal equivalents. OMG public school lunches, don't get me started...

Bikram Beginner: Week 1

It's been one week since DH's yoga torture party, I am five sessions into my Bikram odyssey (or "trial membershit" as I often mistype), and I love/hate it. Now I don't mean to be one of those THIS will change your life message people. No, I like to be the skeptic, the contrarian, the voice of snarky dismissal. But after only one session, I had an inkling that, if nothing else, dedicated Bikram practice would be the way to the body that I want to have, and which has previously only been attainable as a result of disordered eating (medically induced or otherwise).

And after one week, which I've also worked some running and biking into, I think the Bikram will produce benefits in all other areas of physical activity, where I can already feel myself becoming more focused and breathing more effectively. And knowing that I can push through the 90 minutes 100+ degree heat standard Bikram session keeps me from flagging or taking it easy on myself. I think I may be sleeping more effectively too.

Although I am coming at this new venture from a state of relative fitness (I exercise regularly, have plenty of energy, and enjoy physical exertion), I am not a flexi person and have never participated in any organized sport or exercise. I struggle with the postures and have to do the bare minimum expression on many of them. I am not a slow or calm person either, so even deep breathing is a challenge.

Every session (at my studio) is identical, and this may seem odd to the outsider. But everyone is coming to this with a different level of fitness, flexibility and experience. All the studio websites that I have perused market themselves as beginner friendly, which is good business of course, in addition to encouraging for those just getting started. And once you're in, you realize that even within the "constraints" of this identical session, the point is to keep working yourself harder - improve your postures, increase your flexibility, increase the frequency of practice. For me, with my unstretchy legs, it's going to be a long time before I'm even working correctly; outgrowing the class is not even in the realm of possibility.

I was looking for some good pictures of postures and found this non-CT website (for Bikram Yoga Portsmouth - I'll be sure to visit if I ever get to leave the state again) which has lots of great pictures, and also has lots of good and encouraging information for beginners.

Local to the Scenics, you can jump start your Bikram journey at Bikram Yoga Simsbury or Bikram Yoga Farmington, which both offer the first thirty days for $30 - a really amazing deal for newbs, and good business too, no doubt, since it gives more people the opportunity to get hooked (conventional wisdom: it takes 30 days to start a habit). You don't need a lot of special gear to get started. If you can set aside your inhibitions, be as naked as possible, because the sweat will be dripping and pouring off of you and the heat is quite oppressive. I've been working the sports bra and shorts look (great stuff available about Marshall's and The Lot, as previously noted). DON'T wear your long, official yoga getups. You will bake. I got a yoga mat for $12 at Marshall's too. I splurged and spent $6 (highway robbery!) on this thingie from EMS to keep my glasses on my head, because I couldn't find such a thingie anywhere else.

CoffeeQuest: Winsted

We've mentioned before what a thrill it is to find a place to buy a decent cup of coffee. In the quest to stay awake at jobs/school, in the absence of alternatives, I've had to compromise my integrity one too many times with Dunkin Donuts swill. So I'm pleased to find a new indie coffee shop, Karen's Cafe in Winsted that serves excellent coffee. Karen's Cafe is a bittersweet discovery for me. The shop is located at 64 Main St., previously the site of my favorite Winsted coffee/restaurant/social destination, Cafe 64, which served the most amazing coffee shakes, flatbread sandwiches, and was staffed with attractive young people and frequented by the hipsterest clientele Northwest CT could muster.

But enough nostalgia! Karen's has only been open a few months, so I hope Winsted wants good coffee as badly as I do. They also serve your expected spectrum of espresso drinks and tea and have baked goods and wraps that I have not tried yet, but look forward to exploring. A sandwich menu is in the works.